96-98 Cupholder after Center Console Swap
 

I have a 98 limited and have done the amazing 99+ Center Console swap, with the help of the members on this forum, and am wondering what people have done with the cupholder in the center dash bezel.

I would love to have a slide out phone holder there so I could read the Ultraguage info, but I want to know what other people who are more creative than me have done with that empty space. Of course, posts with pictures get the most points.

If this has been covered and I missed it, I'll remove this thread or add the link here.

In for ideas as well. I haven't thought of anything simple enough that I could make.

I was hoping some of the more creative members (you being one of them) would chime in.
Like I said, I would like to have something that was flush to the bezel, like the existing cupholder, that you slide out and you have a holder for your phone, scangauge, radio, etc. I was using the cupholder that way, but broke it the second time I wedged my phone in.

I went real hoopty and mounted my old TomTom on the tray.
Works pretty well and frees the phone up for music, etc.

i've got the cup holder console, and now I have an Idea for what my 3D printing project in one of my engineering classes should be for... lol

I should be able to design something that slides in and out with the existing hardware. I just have to figure out what it should fold out into...
Phone/tablet mount
OBD2 info screen
handheld radio mount
off-road info like a mechanical slope angle/compass (since you only really need to pull that out off-road)
need more ideas...

If I do design something that works I'll link y'all the print files eventually of course.

I like the sound of that. I've also thrown around the idea of filling it with plastic trim and mounting a small trans temp gauge there and maybe an outdoor temp gauge.
I would be interested to see what you could come up with.

I use a vent magnet, pull the cup holder out slightly, and rest my phone horizontally on the base of the cup holder...actually works pretty well. But, I would love something functional and rigid that replaces the cup holder.

Phone mount would be awesome, that's what I was trying to figure out but didn't get very far. I don't want or need more data for me to monitor as it is, which might surprise people since if anyone's rig needed more monitoring it'd be mine. I just don't want a constant reminder that my transmission runs hot, my coolant system runs hot, oil temps are hot, etc. etc. lol. I don't even have a boost gauge, which a lot of S/C guys do. The sound of the engine tells me if I'm cranking out the boost hehe

I agree, the phone mount would be the most useful, and as said above, horizontal mount would be nice, and would stick out less. The space is really small for gauges, but I though a small digital one could work. I would like to keep the oem look going.

just spent 20 minutes manhandling the cup holder trying to get the two clips to release. flippin' impossible. tried shimming two butter knives up in there and I finally could get the left clip to release but not the right one. those two youtube videos make it look way too easy lol. doesn't help that my center console trim is still loose from the idiot who installed the head unit. I was trying to get it out so that I could get some accurate measurements to start but oh well, another night...

aaanyways, i'm thinking a sort-of clam shell design that you could load up with a couple rubber bands so that it clamps down on the phone horizontally when it's open, and folds itself up when you want to close it.

i might be able to fit in a tiny little (0.5" x 2") LCD display for MPG, error codes, and temperature data right on the front face of the mount. I know of one that's a little bit too big, but I'm sure I could find one a bit smaller or maybe even take it out of the plastic housing and re mount the screen in the phone mount tray, but it'd be nice if it was more plug-n-play.

I took a second look and I agree that installing a display to read would be tough. Most likely would have to remove any housing and then deal with mounting it. I need to look around more and see if I can spot a good flip-up phone holder, or see what could work as a good phone mount.

Sub'd this one. If you guys end up making something for a phone holder I'd buy one (I don't have those sort of mad fab skills like you do lol)

I tried a few things with my 3d printer. My first choice was to mount USB plugs to provide power for all of my needs. Decided I didn't like the wires hanging across the dash and what not so that got trashed. Then I tried mounting volt meters for the dual battery setup in the slot but decided to go with something different and more out of the way. Ultimately I went back to the original cup holder and I have now printed different holders that slot into the factory holder, sort of like adapters depending on my needs at the time.

Lets see some pics! I like that you tried out a few different ideas. Any of them work better or more useful than the others?

No not really. Non of my ideas fold down like the stock cup holder and beyond the voltmeter and usb adapter they do not replace it they are simple inserts that make the open holder adaptable to different devices. The only one I still have is a cup holder adapter for my Baofeng UV-5R radio and that was a download from Thingiverse, so I can't take the credit for it. The problem I have with that location is that it blocks so much of the dash when its open or the device is stuck up in the middle of the window, neither situation is ideal. So most of the time I leave the factory cup holder closed and use it to hold my radio when I am on a ride because it locates the radio antenna in a better spot and I have better reception. The USB holder worked well, it need some refinements for mounting, but it cluttered my console so I moved them to the bottom and mounted them as part of the light switch cluster below the CB that replaced the factory ashtray.

My excursion into creating something to replace the factory cup holder was more of an experiment into CAD because I had just gotten my 3d printer and I was looking for something to make. My skill level with CAD is, well basically non existent, so a lot of my prints are very much trial and error, or basic boxes. I can do square and circles but I am learning and that was the point of the exercise for me.